Celebrations In Summerville

May 11 continued

We got to Walterboro where we turned off I-95 for Summerville about 11:00. My children thought this was a terrible road, but I don't see anything wrong with it. We have - on occasion -eaten lunch in Waltersboro
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Waltersboro Historic Marker

Many of the hotels in Summerville are on a road right next to I-26 on a road which had a Holiday inn on it - the road is called Holiday Drive. Usually we have stayed in the Sleep Inn which is less expensive and also has a free breakfast, but this time we decided to stay in the Hampton Inn, and our three daughters and their spouses and quite a few of the other wedding guests were here too. I knew that one son-in-law would want to stay here because he wants a king bed with fitted bottom sheets, and the Hampton Inn can give him that.

Originally there was just the Holiday Inn and the Sleep Inn and another hotel on this road. Now there is an Econo Lodge, an Economy Inn, Country Inn & Suites and a Wyndham in addition to the Sleep Inn and the Hampton Inn. The GPS refused to acknowledge that the Hampton Inn was on Holiday Drive (which has been extended) and insisted that it was another location. Apparently they were across the road and just moved to this location a couple of months ago. I think their former location has a Comfort Inn.

I wanted to find a place to eat lunch because we were WAY early to check in to the hotel, but Bob does not hear me and is driving too fast to stop. We eventually got to Five Guys Hamburgers and Fries and had lunch.

Five Guy's drink cup

taped to the bag

After we ordered, Bob waited a long time for the men's room - I could see him fidgeting outside, so I went to the ladies room and it was empty (a single stall place) and I told him to come in there with me. They brought our food to the table.

I had a cheese dog and a grilled cheese sandwich

Grilled Cheese

Cheese dog

and Bob had his usual burger.

Bob's hamburger

The GPS took us around back past a shopping center to get to the hotel. We checked in two hours early and they put us on the fourth floor.

Bob went over to Walmart - he said he thought he saw BJ's gas (and we don't need gas) but he couldn't find it again. Bob decided we should take KFC and soft drinks over to our son's house for dinner, so he stopped and got some chicken on the way over there. We had never been to his new house, so we went over and had dinner there. I met my granddaughter's fiancee and talked to them a bit.

They are all set up to have a wedding in the garden where there is a tiki hut on the deck, and a fountain in the yard.

garden

Tiki hut on the deck

Garden where the wedding was to be held

May 12 - Rehearsal Day

We had breakfast at the hotel and went over to our son's house in the afternoon. Her brother (our grandson), his wife and their child (our great grandson) got there about 4 in the morning because they tried to drive from Aberdeen through D.C. in the rush hour. Which is not a good idea.

Great grandson

We went back to the hotel - two of our daughters had arrived - one from Florida and one from Maryland. The Florida couple are on the first floor, and the Maryland couple are on the second floor. They came up to our room and we talked until it was time to leave for the rehearsal dinner (there was no actual rehearsal because the lady who was marrying them had to work, so they did the rehearsal after the dinner.

About 5:30 we left for the rehearsal dinner, which was at Sticky Fingers.

Sign for the rehearsal dinner

Sticky Fingers neon sign from inside

It was a buffet.

Buffet food at Sticky Fingers

We got reacquainted with our daughter-in-law's side of the family and had dinner. There were about twenty-five people there from out of town plus our son and daughter-in-law and the engaged couple. Our third daughter from Texas arrived about 8 pm. They had flown from Houston to Atlanta and rented a car. They are on the third floor of the hotel.

Our four children

Photos in front of the sticky fingers sign

May 13 - Saturday - the Wedding

The weather forecast was for rain, and it did indeed rain. That meant all the set-ups for outside had to be moved into the house.We had a good time at the wedding in spite of the rain. They managed to cope wonderfully. My son moved his prized Mustang out of the garage and parked it down by the community pool about a quarter mile away (parking was a problem), and the moved all the furniture out of the family room and put it in the garage. Chairs were set up in the family room for the guests to sit on facing the kitchen island,.

Great grandson

chairs set up

The bride came downstairs with her parents

photographer waiting for the bride

and they were married with their backs to the kitchen.

Wedding location indoors

and the cross ceremony was on a card table at the doors out onto the deck.

First kiss

Then tables were brought in and set up, and someone from Mo's came with food which was buffet style in the dining room. Drinks in cans (water, soft drinks and beer) were on the front porch and my son was running the blender in the kitchen as the bar tender backed out at the last minute. The cake was in the apartment for the cake cutting

photos on the deck

Then after the ceremony, it stopped raining and people went out on the deck and took photos.

I took about 170 photos, or which 60 were of our great grandson (or people holding him)

Bob had parked the car down at the pool and walked back to the house, so he walked back and got the car and we took our Texas daughter and son-in-law back to the hotel. The two other daughters used Uber.

May 14 - Mother's Day

My kids wanted to take me to a restaurant for Mother's Day, but I figured that since we didn't have reservations it would be a madhouse if we could even get anything. So I suggested that since we were at the Hampton Inn and they had breakfast, we should just go all together and eat breakfast there. Our Maryland daughter left early to drive back home (because they had their dog in a kennel) but the other two girls and their husbands and our son came to the Hampton Inn and we had breakfast and chatted. Our son didn't eat anything.

son-in-law

breakfast

The Florida couple were going to Savannah (which isn't far), the Texans were going back to Atlanta (they were tracking their kids on their phones, so they knew that at least their phones were at church), and our son said that our daughter-in-law was cleaning up.

We left about 10 and had a straight shot up I-95. On the way to Rocky Mount, we stopped at Burger King for lunch.

Even here, it was very crowded because of Mother's Day.